I haven’t posted in quite some time, so I’m coming at you with a big long post about something that’s been on my mind as of late.
I believe in freedom. I believe moreso in liberty, which adds to freedom both individual responsibility (e.g., one may own a gun but not murder with it, one may own a pen but not slander with it) and the responsibility of government to ensure that everyone is as equally free as everyone else (e.g., anyone can own a gun or a pen). Government is meant to give us rules, in theory at least, to help us all responsibly enjoy freedom and to promote liberty (see
the social contract and
popular sovereignty) The question that free Western societies face in the current climate of terrorism (or perhaps we’ve have always faced this, just now more so) is what we want more—Liberty or safety. There’s a Benjamin Franklin quote that’s been revived as of late, and I happen to believe it:
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
I also happen to like Patrick Henry’s “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
So if I had to give up, say, being able to drive around with a van full of cell phones in order to feel more “safe” in my daily life, then I say take away first my safety but do abridge my Liberty!
I do not side with “the terrorists” or anyone who should seek to do anyone harm, for any reason—upon these or other shores. I do, however, side against those who would seek turn our already marginally free society into a police or surveillance state. I do not believe in the maxim “nothing to hide, nothing to fear” because I believe in a truly free society we are free to hide whatever it is we want, from our neighbors or our government.
In fact that idea of being able to hide, of being a private citizen, was so important to the founders of our free society that they sought to enshrine this ideal into the Bill Of Rights:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
If you ask me, I feel that we’ve already stretched “probably cause” further than it ought to be. Again, the question comes down to this: safety or Liberty?
This is not to say that we should not exercise caution in the face of danger; that is always prudent. This is why there are safety belts in automobiles, sprinklers in buildings, and foil over Tylenol bottles. There no Liberty sacrificed in any of these things, they are prudent precautions that save lives.
I’ll digress here for just a moment: Whether or not the laws which mandate these things take away Liberty is another matter–the safety belt is there for you to put on or not; the fine issued for not wearing it is an incentive designed by The State because we’ve agreed to allow it an interest in our personal safety.
The State only has an interest in protecting the lives of its citizens only because those citizens have allowed it or demanded it. Therefore the line must be drawn by The People and not The State. I will happily pass through a metal detector to see the Statue of Liberty, for my need to carry a gun to it far outweighs the need for everyone to remain safe at the site: herein lies the delicate balance between (enduring) Safety and (temporary) Liberty.
What I am firmly against is the that neighbors should spy upon neighbors, shopkeepers need to spy on their patrons, children ought to turn in their parents. This is not a free society where Liberty is enshrined and protected.
Deep down, I think and feel that we are better off when we have the freedom to conduct the business of our lives as we see fit—so long as that conduct does not hinder others’ ability to do the same. This is the foundation of the idea of Liberty, indeed the foundation of our society. When this foundation becomes so compromised by the actions of the State, then we are no longer free. If we beg The State to do so in the face of Fear (cf. V for Vendetta) then the Fear has won; likewise if we allow Fear to do so, then that Fear has also won. I would rather die a free and full citizen in a terrorist attack that be forced to live out my life in a society that would deny me those freedoms.
So I say again, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
